Delayed repair of a pectoralis major tendon rupture with allograft: A case report

Ruptures of the pectoralis major muscle and tendon have been considered rare injuries, occurring primarily in male weight lifters during the eccentric phase of the bench press. There have also been sporadic case reports of isolated injuries occurring in other events in which resisted forces are applied to the extended-abducted humerus.(3,5-8,10,15,18,22) Many of these injuries are initially misdiagnosed by patients and first-line physicians as pulled muscles, delaying proper diagnosis and treatment. Despite delays, several authors have reported successful late surgical treatment of pectoralis major tendon ruptures months to years after the initial injury.(2,4,11,18,21) We report a case in which adequate mobilization of the ruptured muscle-tendon unit was not possible 8 weeks from the time of Injury. A successful surgical result was achieved with the use of an Achilles tendon allograft to augment the repair. To the best of our knowledge, this technique has not been previously reported in the English literature.